Ludacris, who is in the middle of a tour with Janet Jackson and awaiting the U.S. opening of ‘Fast X,’ gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
During a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles, Ludacris sat at his dining room table, appreciating the view from his Hollywood Hills home.
Over the last several months, the rapper and actor has been in constant motion, and moments like these are rare.
He’s on tour opening for Janet Jackson, with the pair recently selling out back-to-back nights at Madison Square Garden. He went on to play three straight nights of arena shows along the East Coast. Sandwiched between performances, he has to attend press events and TV talk shows to promote “Fast X,” which was released in theaters across the U.S. and North America this week.
But right now, Ludacris is talking about what helps him get his eight hours of sleep at the end of it all.
“That right there is what helps me end my day,” said Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, during a Zoom interview, turning the camera toward his infinity swimming pool framing an idyllic angle on L.A. “The elements.”
Ludacris then launched into a brief lesson about “earthing” or grounding, the therapeutic practice of allowing one’s skin and body to come in contact with the ground or water. He says it balances his “negative ions and positive ions.” He lamented how in today’s world, people seldom take time to go to parks for picnics and just sit in the grass.
“I live by it,” Ludacris said. “I can feel it. I can feel myself start to get balanced out whenever I’m near water, or in water, or when I’m in the sunshine.”
Although Ludacris, whose family home is in Atlanta, is technically in L.A. for business, it’s unlike any other work trip he’s been on. On Tuesday, while talking with The Times, Ludacris was preparing to receive his star Thursday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The moment had the Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate reflective and appreciative, even of the things right in front of him, like his multimillion-dollar view. And for now, one of the busiest performers in entertainment has put his ceaseless work ethic — the thing that got him here — on pause.
The guest list at his ceremony on Thursday afternoon reflected his tirelessness: He sat next to some of his hip-hop influences, including LL Cool J and Queen Latifah. His “Fast & Furious” family, Vin Diesel, Tyrese, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, lined the front row. Nearby was his actual family, mother Roberta Shields, wife Eudoxie Mbouguiengue and his four daughters. His eldest, Karma Bridges, told her dad she would miss the ceremony to speak at her school, Spelman College, only to surprise him at the ceremony.
“I’m just gonna say, I’m happy I’ve got these sunglasses on right now,” Ludacris said into the microphone, referring to his tears after Karma gave a speech.
Throughout his talk, Ludacris went through a long list of thank-yous, including to the late actor Paul Walker and late director John Singleton, who cast him in “2 Fast 2 Furious” in 2003. At the end of his list, Ludacris turned to the two people “who have been on this journey with me since Day 1”: his longtime managers, Chaka Zulu and Zulu’s brother, Jeff Dixon.
